“A trail from the creek bottoms to alpine meadows and a sweet route to climb Mad Wolf.”

Runner Notes

A creek crossing, and a poorly maintained trail that's steep in sections.

Description

This trail is part of the Old North Trail that used to run from Canada down to East Glacier, but only exists in small segments. It is not on most park maps and is poorly maintained, used mostly for administrative tasks.

This trail takes off from the Pitamakan Pass Trail just after leaving the trailhead at the Cut Bank Campground. It is an obvious trail that takes you down to the creek and seems to end. Look for a good place to ford the creek and cross. Note that during spring runoff, the creek is swift, high, cold, and dangerous.

Once across, follow the trail to where it breaks out into a big meadow and disappears. Stay to the left of the seasonal creek bed through the meadow and look for orange markers where an established trail picks up.

From here to the meadows at the top, you spend most of your time climbing, sometimes very steeply, up through the trees. Certain sections are fairly muddy as little drainage mitigation is put into the trail. As you gain elevation, you get pockets of meadows and great views, culminating in the fantastic meadows at the base of Mad Wolf Mountain. Look for open range horses from the reservation that sneak into the park.

The trail technically ends in the meadows with incredible views up to stunning peaks and out to the plains. The trail is a great option if you want to climb Mad Wolf Mountain which you are right below at the end of the trail.

This content was created by Jake Bramante of Hike 734. Visit hike734.com for more expert Glacier content and maps that help you decide which trail to run.

Flora & Fauna

Forest flowers such as geraniums to open meadow flowers such as prairie smoke and gaillardia. Forest birds are abundant as are squirrels. Up on the meadow, you may come across horses, deer, elk, or bear.